The brothers in law are back, this time heading down south to Miami to solve another crime in “Ride Along 2”. This sequel to the 2014 comedy smash of the Winter season picks up about a year after our heroes last adventure. Plans for a quick trip to Miami go bad when the boys are witnesses to more than they came for. With the wedding upcoming, James (Ice Cube) reluctantly takes Ben (Kevin Hart) with him to Miami to follow up on a lead connected to a drug ring case he’s been trying to crack. In Miami, they meet Maya (Olivia Munn), a no nonsense homicide officer who lets them know that Miami is her turf. They also encounter AJ (Ken Jeong) a shady, cocky computer hacker who reveals evidence that implicates a well-respected local businessman, the wealthy Antonio Pope (Benjamin Bratt), who harbors a vicious crime streak and controls South Florida’s drug trade. If Ben and James can convince the authorities that Pope is a brutal crime boss they’ll stop his spree. If they fail, their lives, as well as Ben’s wedding may be in serious jeopardy. Like the original, the sequel is also directed by Tim Story.
“Ride Along” was a movie that I wasn’t crazy about, but the chemistry of Ice Cube and Kevin Hart prevailed over a limiting PG-13 rating. While many things stay the same about that statement when it comes to its sequel, the film never overcomes the obstacles it sets for itself creatively in rehashing familiar gags. This film is entirely retreading the very same jokes and moments from the original film, and they feel tired and tedious by this point. The biggest negative that plagues “Ride Along 2” is the fact that it never truly finds a voice for itself. Was this a sequel that was even necessary? No, but if you are going to make it give the audience something of memorable substance. As I sit here less than a half hour after the movie, I find myself easily forgetting a lot of the directions that the movie took me on. I didn’t laugh a single time, but I understand Kevin Hart fans will eat up his schtick regardless. To me, if you point out any of the best parts in the film, It’s the ones that are in the trailers. Everything else around it just kind of falls flat, and makes the movie feel like it had fifteen minutes of great ideas, and nothing to draw around it.
The performances are acceptable enough. The same jokester VS straight man comedy that enhanced the original’s humor is still there in this one. Hart and Cube are a pleasure to watch colaborate on-screen, but they never really venture outside of their typecast boxes. For my opinion, the two have been playing the same roles for their entire filmography, and “Ride Along 2” isn’t the best of those typical traits. The laughs from Hart are usually fast talking or physical in slapstick, but honestly quite predictable. Ice Cube supplies the famous mean-mugging that he has been giving for over twenty years now. Usually his job in this sequel is to give a reaction to the madness by his co-star. With the events of the first film, Cube feels a little too angry in this movie. Hart’s Ben has already proven himself as an officer, as well as a perfect gentlemen to his baby sister, so his hostility comes off as playing to a plot. Fake by design even. There are some nice additions with Benjamin Bratt playing what can only be described as “The Most Interesting Man in the World” with a drug spin. It is a little cartoonish at times, but Bratt’s likability comes in his enjoyment for the role. Ken Jeong gives his best performance of the weekend (Remember “Norm of the North”?), serving as the perfect counterpart to Hart’s madness and loud talking. Olivia Munn is a solid female lead, but we never get to know more about her character behind the badge. She is kind of just there to be a romantic interest for Ice Cube, and that’s unfortunate because the film flows best when her character is on-screen.
The movie’s screenplay isn’t anything too offending. For the majority of the movie, it’s pretty well paced with a lot of surprisingly strong action chase sequences played off in the middle. The main plot or crime mystery for the film is heavily flawed, mainly because an idiot could solve this case in an hour. The setting of Miami is beautiful in luxorious backgrounds, but it doesn’t exactly make a lot of sense why the two male leads are there to work the case in the first place. It’s explained that they have to track down Jeong’s character, as he serves as a witness to an Atlanta politician’s murder, but it’s a bit of a stretch to think that Miami P.D wouldn’t handle this one their own with this being their turf.
Overall, “Ride Along 2” is a noticably slowed down version to the fast paced, humorous gags of the first movie. It’s nothing terribly offensive, and a pretty easy enough sit, but it suffers from similar problems that all comedy sequels have been going through since the 80’s. It relies too much on familiar material that was already played out in a much more original manner. It’s lack of solid laughs and tired scenarios make this a sequel better left on the side of the road. It will make its money simply because its audience (like it’s producers) doesn’t ask for much.
4/10